Sources: Cop repeatedly Tasered teen in jail

BY STEPHANIE FARR, Daily News Staff Writer

A MEMBER OF the Colwyn Police Department is under investigation for repeatedly using a Taser on a juvenile while the boy was in a holding cell last week, according to borough officials and sources.

The 17-year-old boy was arrested for fighting on April 24, charged with disorderly conduct and placed in a holding cell, according to sources. The officer allegedly Tasered the boy up to nine times, sources said, for reasons that are still unclear. The juvenile was allegedly Tasered once in the head and may have been handcuffed, sources said.

Officials declined to confirm the identity of the officer who is under investigation. Deputy Chief Wendell Reed said that there is "somewhat of an investigation going on" and he's "been working on it for a minute."

"The investigation involves an officer involved with a juvenile, yes," Reed said. "The juvenile is fine, there is no issues, no problems. It's just more of a matter of procedure than it is the incident itself."

"I can tell you right now suspensions are going to be coming," he said. "More than one will be coming."

He declined to say why more than one officer may be suspended for the incident, but he did say that he is looking into allegations of a coverup or, at the very least, that the proper protocols were not followed.

Rutland said that he was not informed of the incident until four days after it occurred, and that was only after he began receiving anonymous calls about it and started asking questions on his own.

"That's how I found out about it," he said. "I basically had to ask."

Although Reed said that the officer in question will be on desk duty while the investigation is ongoing, Rutland said that the borough doesn't have desk duty and that the officer would be off the schedule until the investigation is complete.

Reed is heading the department while Chief Bryan Hills remains out because of an ongoing legal battle with borough council. Hills was fired in 2009 for issues including a dispute over the amount of overtime used by police, but last year an arbitrator determined that he should get his job back. However, borough council continues to fight the decision.

Contact Stephanie Farr at 215-854-4225 or farrs@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @FarFarrAway. Read her blog at philly.com/dailydelco.